NATO takes command of Libya mission

U.S. forces handed over command of air operations in Libya to NATO early Thursday, just as reports emerged that Central Intelligence Agency operatives are on the ground there gathering intelligence for airstrikes and on the rebels fighting against Muammar Qadhafi’s regime.

The official transfer of leadership puts in NATO’s hands control of the no-fly zone over Libya, an arms embargo and “protecting civilians and civilian-populated areas against the threat of attack,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.

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President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials have touted the transfer as a sign that the mission has so far been successful. But it comes soon after a NATO commander told Congress that there are “flickers” of evidence suggesting that some in the Libyan opposition movement are affiliated with Al Qaeda, and as coalition allies are generally reluctant to support the opposition without knowing more about its members.

In efforts to better understand the dynamic inside Libya, the CIA has had teams on the ground there for several weeks, The New York Times and The Washington Post — among others — reported Wednesday night, citing undisclosed government officials.

Operatives have been on the ground since soon after the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli was evacuated in February, officials told The Los Angeles Times. The CIA officers have been meeting with rebels to learn more about them, to gather military intelligence for airstrikes and to provide the rebels with information about where to attack Qadhafi on the ground.

Dozens of British special forces and MI6 intelligence officers also are on the ground, current and former British officials told The New York Times.

The reports about covert operations emerged after Reuters said Wednesday afternoon that the president had issued a secret “finding,” a document authorizing the CIA to provide arms and other support to Libyan rebels.

“As is common practice for this and all administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. “I will reiterate what the president said yesterday — no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya. We’re not ruling it out or ruling it in. We’re assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters.”

Meanwhile, Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa arrived in England on Wednesday. He’s said to have resigned his position while in Tunisia, The Wall Street Journal reported, and could announce his defection from Qadhafi’s regime as early as Thursday.